Marine carrier

ABSTRACT

The carrier includes a cradle having an elongated spine and a number of ribs which are spaced along the length of the spine. The spine is pivotally attached to a larger boat such that an end of the spine may be raised or lowered. When the end of the spine has reached its lowermost extent, it is immersed in water and allows a smaller boat to be floated into the cradle. When the end of the spine is raised to its uppermost extent, the smaller boat is lifted entirely out of water. A hoist or actuator serves to raise and lower the end.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to marine carriers and more particularlyto a carrier for small boats such as canoes, small outboard motor boats,personal water-craft such as sea-doors, sea-fleas and the like.

[0002] The marine carrier of my invention attaches to the stern of aboat and may be lowered into water for loading and unloading of asmaller boat. The smaller boat may be raised until it is entirely out ofwater and transported by the larger boat while the smaller boat remainsout of the water.

[0003] Briefly the marine carrier of my invention comprises a cradlehaving an elongated spine and a number of ribs which are spaced alongthe length of the spine and which extend outwardly from opposite sidesthereof. The spine is pivotally attached to a larger boat such that anend of the spine is movable upwardly and downwardly between lower andupper positions. The end of the spine when in the lower position is inwater when the larger boat is afloat such that the smaller boat whenalso floating can be moved, while floating, into a location within thecradle in which the spine is beneath the smaller boat and the ribs areon opposite sides of the smaller boat. The end when in the upperposition is above the water such that the smaller boat is entirely outof water. A hoist or actuator serves to raise and lower the end.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The marine carrier of the invention is illustrated in theattached drawings in which:

[0005]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the carrier;

[0006]FIG. 2 is a side view of a first embodiment of the carrier;

[0007]FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the swivel and thecomponents connected to the swivel; and

[0008]FIG. 4 is a side view of a second embodiment of the carrier.

[0009] Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout thedescription of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] With reference to FIG. 1, the marine carrier of the inventionincludes a cradle, generally 10 having an L-shaped spine 12. The spinehas a longitudinally extending component 12 a and a laterally extendingcomponent 12 b. A pair of spaced ribs 14, 16 extend laterally outwardlyfrom one side of the spine and a like pair of ribs 18, 20 extendoutwardly from the opposite side of the spine. As illustrated, ribs 14,18 extend outwardly from the free or distal end 21 of the spine.

[0011] Stringers 22, 24 are spaced parallel and apart from the spine andare attached to each pair of ribs 14, 16 and 18, 20, respectively.

[0012] The cradle is mounted on a pair of spaced brackets 40, 42. Thebrackets have horizontally extending supports 44, 46 which are attachedto and extend rearwardly from a swimming platform 48 at the rear of awater-craft used to transport a boat.

[0013] With reference to FIG. 2, bracket 40 has a brace 50 which extendsdownward from the outer end of support 44 and connects to the transom(not illustrated) of the water-craft. The forward component 52 of thebracket extends downward from the outer end of the horizontal bar 44 atan angle of approximately 45 degrees from the vertical. The lower end ofthe forward component is supported by a horizontal strut 54 whichextends to brace 50.

[0014] The bracket has a pair of parallel rails (one illustrated in FIG.2 and marked 56) which define an elongated track or groove for rollingaccommodation of a castor 64. The castor is mounted in bearings at thelower wall of spine 12 and rolls in the groove between an upper stop 66at the outer end of the horizontal bar to a lower stop 68 at the lowerend of rail 56.

[0015] A stay 70 is pivotally attached to rib 18 and has a lower wallwhich contacts bar 44 when the cradle is in the position illustrated inFIG. 2. The stay provides support for the cradle when it is in suchposition.

[0016] With reference to FIG. 3, an L-shaped plate 72 is attached to theouter end of horizontal support 46 and the plate has an upstanding wall74 which is connected to spine 12 by means of stud 76. As illustrated,the stud extends through both the upstanding wall and the spine andserves as a swivel. By means of the swivel, the free end 21 of the spine(as illustrated in FIG. 1) is adapted to swing about the swivel betweenthe upper and lower stops on the track.

[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a flexible first cable 80 isattached at 82 to rib 18. The cable extends around a pulley 84 which isattached to spindle 86 and around pulleys 88, 90 attached to the spine.A cleat 92 holds the cable adjacent to the spine and a ring 94 isattached to the end of the cable and prevents the cable from withdrawingfrom pulley 90.

[0018] A winch 98 is attached to the outer end of the laterallyextending component 12 b of the spine. A second cable 100 is woundaround the winch and a hook 102 is attached to the free end of the cablefor selective attachment to ring 94.

[0019] The operation of the marine carrier illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 isas follows. With reference first to FIG. 1, the end 22 a of stringer 22is pulled manually away from the watercraft so that the cradle will rolldown the track. When ring 94 contacts pulley 90, the cradle will stop.The cradle should also be in contact with stop 68 at that point.

[0020] The free end 21 of the spine and the adjacent components of thecradle will then be in the water and the boat to be transported ispositioned such at its bow is adjacent to the free end 21 of the spine.

[0021] The next step in the operation is to disconnect hook 102 fromring 94 and to activate the winch to unwind cable 100 until the hookreaches the bow ring of the boat. The hook is then attached to the bowring.

[0022] The operation of the winch is the reversed to wind second cable100 to draw the boat onto the cradle. The boat slides along stringers22, 24 as the winch draws the boat onto the cradle. The stringers serveto guide the boat at this time so that the boat will be properlypositioned in the cradle. When so positioned, the keel of the boat willbe parallel to the spine of the cradle and either is in contact with itor is vertically above it.

[0023] When the bow of the boat reaches ribs 16, 20, the hook is removedfrom the bow rings of the boat and is attached to ring 94 at the end ofthe first cable 80. The winch is then activated to wind the cablethereby causing the castor to roll up the track on the bracket until thecradle reaches the position illustrated in FIG. 1. The castor will thenbe in contact with stop 66 and the boat will be out of water and beready to be transported.

[0024] Stay 70 provides support to the cradle when it is out of thewater in the position illustrated in FIG. 2. The stay minimizes damageto the cradle and to the boat when the transporting water-craft is inrough water.

[0025] The bracket illustrated in FIG. 4 can be substituted for thebracket illustrated in FIG. 2. With reference to FIG. 4, the bracket hasa horizontal bar 120 which is attached to the swim platform 122. Atriangular frame 124 is attached to the bar and a brace 126interconnects the frame and the transom of the water-craft.

[0026] A pair of parallel spaced links 130, 132 are pivotally attachedto the lower horizontal component 124 a of the frame and to plate 134which is mounted to the spine 136 and to rib 138 of the cradle.

[0027] A cable 140 is attached to link 130 and extends around a pulley142 and to a winch (not illustrated).

[0028] The operation of the bracket illustrated in FIG. 4 is as follows:The winch is first activated to unwind the cable. The outer end of rib150 is pulled manually away from the water-craft to cause the links torotate clockwise with resulting outward and downward movement of thecradle.

[0029] The end of the cradle illustrated in that Figure will then be inthe water and the boat to be transported is drawn onto the cradle bymeans of the winch as before.

[0030] The winch is then attached to cable 140 and is activated to windthe cable thereby causing the links to rotate counterclockwise untilthey resume the position illustrated in that Figure. The boat will thenbe out of water and is ready to be transported.

[0031] It will be understood of course, that modifications can be madein the preferred embodiments illustrated and described herein withoutdeparting from the scope and purview of the invention. For example, thecradle may be raised and lowered by hydraulic or pneumatic pistons oractuators instead of a cable and winch. Other modifications may also bemade in the structure of the marine carrier without departing from thescope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A marine carrier for supporting a smaller boat on a largerboat, said carrier comprising: a cradle having an elongated spine and aplurality of ribs which are spaced along the length of said spine andwhich extend outwardly from opposite sides thereof, means for pivotallyattaching said spine to said larger boat such that an end of said spineis movable upwardly and downwardly between lower and upper positions,said end when in said lower position adapted to be in water when saidcarrier is attached to the larger boat floating in water such that thesmaller boat when also floating in water can be moved, while floating,into said cradle whereby said spine is beneath the smaller boat and saidribs are on opposite sides of the smaller boat, said end when in saidupper position being above the water such that the smaller boat isentirely out of water; and means for selectively raising and loweringsaid end.
 2. The marine carrier as claimed in claim 1 further includinga pair of stringers disposed parallel to said spine and being connectedto the ribs on opposite sides thereof such that the stringers serve toguide the smaller boat as it floats into said cradle to ensure that saidspine is beneath the smaller boat when the smaller boat is in saidcradle and said ribs are on opposite sides of the smaller boat.
 3. Themarine carrier as claimed in claim 2 further including a bracket havingmeans for connection to the larger boat and having a rail along whichsaid end moves when moving between said lower and upper positions. 4.The marine carrier as claimed in claim 2 further including a brackethaving means for connection to the larger boat and having a pair ofspaced links pivotally attached to said bracket and to said cradle, saidlinks being substantially vertically extending when said end is in saidupper position and pivoting toward a horizontal position as said endmoves to said lower position.
 5. The marine carrier as claimed in claim2 further including a support adapted to be attached to and to extendhorizontally outward from the stem of the larger boat; a plate connectedto said support and being pivotally connected to said spine, saidsupport and said plate being above the water in which the larger boatfloats such that when said end is in said upper position said spine isentirely above the whereby said cradle serves to support the smallerboat entirely out of the water.
 6. The marine carrier as claimed inclaim 2 wherein said means for selectively raising and lowering said endincludes a cable to which said cradle is attached; and a winch forwinding said cable with resulting raising of said end from said lowerposition to said upper position.
 7. The marine carrier as claimed inclaim 6 wherein said cable is composed of two selectivelyinterconnectable lengths, a first said length being connected to saidcradle and a second said length being connected to said winch, saidsecond length being adapted to be selectively connectable to the smallerboat in order to move the smaller boat, while floating, into saidcradle.
 8. The marine carrier as claimed in claim 2 further including astay pivotally connected to one said rib and adapted to stabilize saidcradle when said end is in the upper position.